Hang in there

If you’re not experiencing election fatigue, kudos to you. We’re now more than a year into the presidential election cycle, in earnest, and like many folks, we’re feeling a little weary.

Nationally, it’s been a brutal year all around. The GOP has been hijacked by a reality television star and a band of wingnuts who, like Donald Trump, do not subscribe to the party’s conservative doctrine. The Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton still face a backlash from diehard Bernie Sanders devotees in light of revelations of favoritism during the primary.

It’s been a long, ugly and tiresome campaign season.

Our advice: Hang in there. We’re about two months shy of the November election. The debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are around he corner; the first in a series is taking place on Sept. 26.

A lot is riding on the outcome of that race, of course. So don’t tune out, as painful as it may be to tune in.

Same goes for local politics. There’s a lot at stake in our North State communities. That includes Chico, whose large cast of candidates for City Council includes the incumbents for each of the four seats up for grabs.

On Wednesday morning, Chicoans got a look at 10 of the 11 candidates during a forum hosted by the Chico Chamber of Commerce. The well-attended gathering was mostly geared toward business types. Many of the questions focused on how to pay for city services and buoy the city’s economic vitality, although social issues such as homelessness and crime were hot topics, too.

Our impression from this forum, the first of the season, is that it’s going to be a spirited race for City Council. There are a lot of passionate voices in the mix and that’s a good thing for Chico. Stay tuned.